"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." -Dorothy Parker

The Truth About Vaccines

Here at Curiosity Science, we are big fans of vaccination. It is one of the simplest things that you can do to improve your health and it is the way that we will cure diseases. The fact that smallpx no longer threatens us is the best example of how vaccination cures and eradicates diseases. That is, afterall, the goal of modern medical research: to cure and eradicate diseases. However, in recent years, vaccination has come under fire from an anti-vaccine movement.

The anti-vaccination movement is an example of a poor understanding of science mixed with fear mongering. As I said, we here at Curiosity Science are all about vaccines and vaccination. The science is sound. To quote Neil Degrasse Tyson: “The good thing about science is it is true whether or not you believe in it.”

Now, that being said, Curiosity Science is also a welcoming place to anyone who has vaccine concerns. One of my biggest concerns has been how frustrated us on the pro-vax side have become that we are almost jerks to anyone who questions vaccines or vaccine safety. I get that. Believe me I have been there-it is especially frustrating when you see otherwise intelligent people fall victim to erroneous internet fear articles that come from seemingly legit websites like http://vactruth.com/. This information is not cultivated by experts in the field; it is cultivated by a man who fears that vaccines are somehow to blame for his kid “not meeting the developmental milestones”.

Why is this a concern? Well because people are making jumps that are not proper conclusions by reading a list of ingredients in vaccines and thinking they are somehow nefarious. The problem being that most people don’t have enough chemistry to understand what those crazy “chemically sounding” ingredient names mean. That is why you want to talk to experts about those things. You wouldn’t take surgery advice from someone who isn’t a surgeon right?

This is why I want to emphasise that here at Curiosity Science we are friendly and open to all concerns about vaccines. If you want actual, scientifically verified information, please look here. If you want to talk to an immunologist or a pathobiologist or a pharmaceutical chemist, send us an email at thecuriosityscience@gmail.com. It is ok to have questions and concerns. I also encourage all of you who are trying to change the minds of anti-vaxxers to do your best to create a friendly, open dialogue. Making people feel stupid (no matter how frustrated you get) is never going to be a winning strategy.

For those of you who are concerned about vaccines check out this awesome comic. There is no conspiracy; only a plea to make our population as healthy as possible! Vaccinate yourself against misinformation and know your experts.